Album Reviews

[rating=6.00] Credit to where credit is due: Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldberg refused to allow their cross-generational super-grouping of 2013 to remain a one-shot collaboration. But it’s a fact that, no matter the skill of the musicians involved in any alliance, there’s got to be some fundamental chemistry to be nurtured if […]

[rating=7.00] On the surface, you could characterize A Giant Dog’s Merge debut, Pile (get it?), as anthemic garage rock and call it a day. But what makes this Austin band so compelling is that you can hear unexpected references and feel bizarre vibes if you spend time unpacking their new record. The whole thing kicks off […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the new album from Texas singer-songwriter Daniel Markham, Disintegrator, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution: 

[rating=8.00] Spanning a career over half a century, one of the most memorable guitar tones and vocal deliveries ever to grace Nashville, and a Lightnin’ Hopkins obsession that may rival my very own neurosis, Tony Joe White is the story pole by which all songwriters and artists in general should be gauged. The swampy sentry’s […]

[rating=8.00] Greyhounds are that rare act that with foot in the past and one foot in the future and plenty of style to boot. For 15 years the Austin duo of keyboardist Anthony Farrell and guitarist Andrew Trube have been quietly refining a sound rooted in funk, soul, Texas blues and R&B that is also […]

[rating=8.00] An all star collective comprised of Will Kimbrough (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, Harmonica), Anthony Crawford (vocals, guitar, piano, violin), Grayson Capps (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Corky Hughes (guitar, pedal steel, bass) and Savana Lee (vocals, snare drums), Willie Sugarcapps offers up an excellent sophomore set in Paradise Right Here, a set of songs that stays […]

[rating=7.00] Montreal-based Plants and Animals have been together in some form or another for the past fifteen years. The indie-pop trio is comprised of guitarist-vocalists Warren Spicer, multi-instrumentalist-vocalist Nic Basque and drummer-vocalist Matthew Woody Woodley. With their fourth release Waltzed In From The Rumbling, Plants and Animals have created a hauntingly beautiful album. The album opens […]

[rating=8.00] Apparently not long on the idea of reviving the band’s early 90s heyday, Mark Olson, one-half of the songwriting presence behind Americana darling The Jayhawks, decided to split shortly after the release of 2011’s Mockingbird Time, and its’ subsequent tour. That album, heralded by many as a sign that roots rock and alt-country would […]

[rating=6.00] “I wanted to do something that would unsettle the listener in a good way.” Anthony Gonzalez doesn’t care to kowtow to the legions of expectant M83 fans who still have “Midnight City” preserved on their party playlists. Instead, a half-decade after his seminal and intensely popular album, Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, Gonzalez has doubled-down […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the new album from hip-hop artist Aesop Rock, The Impossible Kid, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution:    [youtube id=”PQF6x_FgnJ0″ width=”630″ height=”350″]

[rating=8.00] The idea of setting unreleased Woody Guthrie lyrics to original music isn’t anything new. Billy Bragg and Wilco famously accomplished that task on their two volumes of Mermaid Avenue and and any number of lesser known artists have done the same in search of fresh inspiration. After all, Woody set the precedent when it […]

[rating=8.00] As the 90’s drew to a close and Britpop was declining in favor, Travis released their sophomore album The Man Who with its single “Why Does It Always Rain On Me?” and brought attention to the post-Britpop movement. Coldplay’s Chris Martin has said that Travis “invented [Coldplay] and a lot of others”. However, where […]

[rating=7.00] There are many ways to tackle the blues. The music can be mournful, hopeful, Southern stirred or Chicago situated. Although it’s a well-defined form, it can be interpreted from a strict template or expanded by pushing at the parameters. As in any genre, there are those who pay reverence to precedents and others who […]

[rating=8.00] Cate Le Bon’s songs seem to start in the middle of things. They force you to occasionally glance down at your music player of choice to see if some sort of skip has taken place. Not one for traditional song structure, Le Bon’s verses bleed into choruses at different moments, words are repeated for […]

[rating=8.00] Kevin Morby is somewhat of a man not made for these times. A folk-rock singer-songwriter who spends a lot of time lyrically contemplating mortality and the ephemeral nature of our being doesn’t equate greatly with commercial success. Neither do his lyrical references to anachronisms; the pastoral scenes he paints and the old-school methods he […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the new album from Sturgill Simpson, A Sailor’s Guide To Earth, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution:  Read our full written album review of the new Sturgill Simpson album! [youtube id=”BlOk5wV0DRo” width=”630″ height=”350″]

[rating=7.00] Woods have never been an easy band to put a handle on, a situation which can clearly thwart anyone looking for ready descriptions and easy to tag comparisons. Slow gaze outfits like Luna, Damon & Naomi and perhaps even early Pink Floyd come closest, but in truth, nothing they’ve done in the course of […]

[rating=8.00] Gabe Dixon has been around for a while, since 1999 in fact. After making a series of albums with his namesake Gabe Dixon Band, he gained notable prominence by playing keyboards and contributing backing vocals to Paul McCartney’s Driving Rain LP. After performing with Macca at the Concert For New York City, a fundraiser […]

[rating=8.00] Jamil Rashad is providing a social good with his debut album Groove!  in that he’s administering unadulterated funk en masse. Rashad’s project, Boulevards, plays pure simplistic funk that calls back to Rick James, Prince, and George Clinton for an infectious sound that demands listeners to light up the dance floor. Eschewing current music fads for […]

[rating=7.00] The front cover graphic of Santana IV is expressly designed to evoke the band’s 1969 debut album and its most apropos. With some marked but ultimately minor interruptions, the better part of this ‘reunion’ album’s hour-plus running time finds  five of the original band members, augmented by two of the current ensemble’s personnel, vividly […]